Projects

Herbarium Database Project

We are currently redesigning and updating our database for easier data input and greater access for research. We are continuing with the digitization of specimen labels and planning specimen imaging using high resolution photography.

We are working together to enter collections data into a database that will be accessible online. Having our specimen data online will make the UVic plant collection more accessible for researchers and the public. So far, 13,800 of our approximately 50,000 specimens have been catalogued in the database.

Phylogeography of Arctic Plants

With our collaborators at other institutions, we are involved in research into the origins and migration pathways of arctic and alpine plants. Recently studied species include Oxyria digyna, Rhodiola integrifolia, Sibbaldia procumbens, and Polygonum viviparum.

Allen GA, Marr KL, McCormick LJ and Hebda RJ (2012). The impact of Pleistocene climate change on an ancient arctic–alpine plant: multiple lineages of disparate history in Oxyria digyna. Ecology and Evolution 2: 649-665.

Botanical Drawings by Sasha Opeiko

Sasha Opeiko was a graduate student in Fine Arts here at UVic. Her creative research explored human relationships to the natural world and the ways in which poetic mysticism drives our quest for knowledge.